BULGARIA. 



83 



loan of 1889, 121,717,000 lei of the 6-per-cent. 

 loan authorized in 1892, 21,875,000 lei of rive-year 

 6-per-cent. treasury bonds issued Jan. 1, 1900, 

 and secured on the tobacco tax, and 9,700,000 lei 

 of the Russian occupation debt. The Eastern 

 Roumelian tribute payable to Turkey is 2,951,000 

 lei per annum, besides 500,000 lei to clear up the 

 arrears of 5,243,000 lei. The Government was 

 authorized by a law passed in June, 1899, to con- 

 vert the entire public debt into a new loan of 

 260,000,000 lei with interest at 5 per cent. The 

 Bulgarian tribute and the Bulgarian share of the 

 Turkish public debt were to be fixed according 

 to a provision in the Berlin treaty. The claims 

 of Russia for the expenses of the occupation, 26,- 

 500,000 lei payable in annual instalments of 

 2,100,000 lei, ought to have been extinguished at 

 the end of 1902. The Eastern Roumelian tribute, 

 originally fixed at 6,125,000 francs, was reduced 

 in 1883 to 4,625,000 francs. After the union with 

 Bulgaria, in 1885, the Government left it unpaid 

 till 1888, when a further reduction to 3,250,000 

 francs was obtained on condition that the arrears 

 should be paid up in annual instalments of 500,- 

 000 lei. In 1896 the Bulgarian Government with- 

 held the tribute, owing to a dispute with Turkey, 

 and in 1897 the Administration of the Turkish 

 Debt, to which the tribute had been assigned, 

 agreed to take 2,850,000 lei henceforth if promptly 

 paid each year. Since 1900, however, it has not 

 been paid. The amount of the foreign consoli- 

 dated debt on Jan. 1, 1902, was 198,753,404 lei. 

 Of the effective proceeds of the loans of 1889, 

 1892, and 1900, amounting to 156,285,300 lei, 

 111,694,868 lei were spent on railroads and har- 

 bors, while the remainder was used to meet 

 deficits in the budget and pay interest for the 

 sinking-fund. The floating debt on Jan. 1, 1902, 

 amounted to 78,297,893 lei, exclusive of payments 

 of 13,373,000 lei due on the last two budgets. To 

 clear off the floating debt, the tobacco loan of 

 1900, and a part of the loan of 1892, the Govern- 

 ment in 1901 arranged with a Paris bank to 

 borrow on the guarantee of the tobacco revenue 

 125,000,000 francs at 824, to be repaid in fifty 

 years with interest at 5 per cent. A tobacco 

 monopoly was to be created and conceded until 

 the extinction of the loan to 'the bank, which, 

 through the agency of a company whose officers 

 it would appoint, would have for that period the 

 exclusive privilege of manufacturing and selling 

 tobacco and supervision over its cultivation, im- 

 portation, and exportation. Of 'the surplus 

 profits, after paying interest and amortization on 

 the loan and 8 per cent, dividends to the share- 

 holders, the state would receive 65 per cent, and 

 the company 35 per cent. The loan was negoti- 

 ated by the Cabinet of Petko Karayeloff, leader 

 of the Democratic party, who before he took 

 office deprecated a foreign loan, denounced the 

 creditors of Bulgaria, the Jewish houses of Vienna 

 and Berlin, and protested against monopolies in 

 general and against granting concessions of any 

 kind to foreigners. All the economies he could 

 effect when he became Premier and Minister of 

 Finance were of slight value, and by remitting 

 the unpopular tithe duty he had further crip- 

 pled the resources of the Government. After ob- 

 taining, with difficulty, a loan of 4,000,000 lei 

 from the Russian State Bank to avert insolvency, 

 he had to make the very terms with the foreign 

 money-lenders that he had denounced as ruinous 

 and humiliating. The money for the proposed 

 tobacco loan was to be provided, in fact, not by 

 the contracting French bank, but by the finan- 

 ciers who already held Bulgarian securities, and 

 who were therefore interested in averting 



national bankruptcy. The budget passed by the 

 Sobranje in 1902 was not much better than the 

 others, notwithstanding the promises .of the 

 Kankoffist ministry to economize. The improve- 

 ment in production and trade and in the general 

 prosperity, however, was a favorable augury. 

 The estimate of revenue for 1903 was 95,955,400 

 lei and that of expenditure was 98,898,337 lei, 

 leaving a deficit of 2,942,937 lei, which was more 

 than doubled by the uncollected arrears of taxes 

 and the expenditure of 1,000,000 lei on the 

 celebration of the battle of Shipka, on which 

 occasion half the Bulgarian army maneuvered 

 for the inspection of the Czar's generals. 



The Army. Service in the army is obligatory. 

 The term is two years in the infantry and three 

 years in the other arms. There are 24 regiments 

 of infantry and skeletons of 24 reserve regiments; 

 5 regiments of cavalry, each of 5 squadrons; 6 

 regiments of field-artillery, each divided into 3 

 sections' of 3 batteries of 6 guns each; 3 bat- 

 talions of fortress-artillery; and 3 battalions of 

 engineers and 1 technical battalion composed of 

 1 railroad company, 1 company of pontonniers, 1 

 company of telegraphists, and 1 company of 

 train. The infantry are armed with Mannlicher 

 repeating rifles of the model of 1888, having a 

 bore of 8 millimeters. The cavalry carry car- 

 bines of the same caliber. The artillery have 

 Creusot field-pieces of 8.7 centimeters caliber and 

 Krupp mountain guns of the caliber of 7 centi- 

 meters. The peace strength of the army in 1901 

 was 2,500 officers and civil employees and 40,555 

 men, with 7,400 horses. The war effective is 

 126,970 men, with 23,432 horses and oxen and 

 312 guns, besides a reserve of 81,996 men, with 

 15,356 horses and 120 guns. 



Commerce and Production. The land tax 

 in Bulgaria is one-tenth of the produce, paid in 

 money or in kind. Villages have common pas- 

 tures and woodlands which are not taxed. Of 

 the total area, 9,570,500 hectares, 2,435,900 

 hectares are covered with farm and garden crops, 

 113,512 hectares are vineyards, 4,587,838 hec- 

 tares are pasture, 1,676,250 hectares are forest, 

 312,000 hectares are waste, and 445,000 hectares 

 are building land, road, water, etc. The farmers, 

 who contribute 70 per cent, of the population, 

 generally own the land they till. The main 

 crop is wheat, most of which is exported. The 

 production of attar of roses in 1900 was 4,300 

 kilograms. The mercantile business is done 

 mainly by foreigners Greeks, Roumanians, Aus- 

 trians, and Jews of various nationalities. Tex- 

 tiles, hardware, machinery, groceries, building 

 materials, leather, petroleum, paper, and salt 

 are the chief imports. The total value of imports 

 in 1900 was 46,342,100 lei; of exports, 53,982,625 

 lei. The imports of textile goods were 13,296,869 

 lei in value; of groceries, 3,984,213 lei; of metals 

 and metal manufactures, 5,197,706 lei; of ma- 

 chinery and implements, 2,786,114 lei; of lumber 

 and wood manufactures, 1.355,215 lei; of leather 

 and leather goods, 2,353.026 lei. The exports of 

 cereals were 27,128,280 lei in value; of textile 

 fibers and cocoons and woolen stuffs. 4,324,454 

 lei; of live animals, 5,609,462 lei: of animal food 

 products, 4,632,535 lei; of attar of roses, 3.719,380 

 lei. The trade with the principal countries in 

 1900 is given in lei in the table on the next page. 



The total value of imports in 1901 was 70,044,- 

 073 lei and that of exports 82,769,759 lei, show- 

 ing an increase of 51 and 53 per cent, respect- 

 ively. Imports from England were 6,380,000 lei 

 more than in the preceding year; from Turkey, 

 5,400,000 lei more; from Austria-Hungary, 4,500,- 

 000 lei more; from Germany, 4.200,000 lei more; 



